Politics
Written by: Lin Jian
2020-02-07 07:00
Last updated: 2020-02-07 07:00The new pneumonia haze in Wuhan is getting more and more heavy. Not only are there shortages of masks and disinfection supplies. In recent days, there has been a surge in the purchase of daily necessities. The rice and toilet paper in the supermarket have been snapped up. There are also many "miracles" rarely seen in a decade, such as a dozen shopping carts stacked with toilet paper, men buying dozens of packages of feminine hygiene products, and so on.
The rush to buy daily necessities reflects not only the public's allergy and panic about the epidemic monster, but also the public's distrust of the social situation and the government's ability. out of stock. On the other hand, in the current policy, there is a very low chance of stock shortage, and that is rice. Because the "Reserved Goods Regulations" stipulate that rice must be stored enough for the whole population for at least 15 days, the public can be relatively relieved.
Recently, there has been a surge in the purchase of many necessities for people's livelihood. Many people think that the government can extend the regulations to these daily necessities, and compulsory storage to stabilize supply.
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Grain is a necessity for people ’s livelihood. Stable supply is the basic job of any government. It makes people feel that “there is a government and you are not afraid”. Conversely, when citizens want to buy food, they usually indicate that the people are afraid of the future. Every time the local situation is unstable, such as the 1967 riots in 1967, the Sino-British negotiations in the 1980s, and SARS in 2003, Hong Kong has more or less snapped up food.
In view of the current epidemic, the SAR government has so far not come up with specific measures to stabilize the supply of masks, and citizens have to queue up to buy. Chief Executive Lin Zheng Yue'e recently issued a "mask restriction order" to officials, acknowledging that the government procurement of masks was "less successful", exacerbating the public's panic about the shortage of supplies. At present, not only masks and epidemic prevention-related items, but the phenomenon of panic buying has spread to other civilian products. As long as there are rumors on the Internet that "seal customs will be out of stock", "the mainland will stop production", "XX can cure the disease", the public will be very easy to believe that .
As a result, citizens tend to purchase a large amount of goods and hoard them at home. No matter how the government and the business community clarify, citizens tend to "buy first" and form a vicious circle. There are fewer and fewer goods on the market. Even if they are too late to be available, those in need ca n’t buy them, and they become “self-fulfilling prophecies.” There is a real shortage. If it continues to develop in this way, it will be difficult to guarantee that other daily necessities such as proprietary Chinese medicines and cleaning supplies will have a buying tide in the future, which will have a huge impact on the people's livelihood.
A large number of citizens snapped up toilet paper. (Photo by Liang Huanmin)
Rice must be stored for 15 days after being listed in the reserve
In the current policy, there is actually a system to stabilize the supply of necessities for people's livelihood. Chapter 296A of the Laws of Hong Kong, the Reserve Commodities (Control of Imports, Exports, and Reserve Stocks) Regulations (the Reserve Commodities Regulation) provides that the Director-General of Trade and Industry has the power to restrict the import, export, and sale of certain goods, and Goods, the stockholder is required to keep the specified quantity at all times. Under the Ordinance, the only item currently classified as a reserve commodity is rice.
Rice control originated in the post-war period, when a large number of people descended from China's southward port, increasing food demand and shortages. The Hong Kong and British governments have implemented rice control since 1955, requiring all rice stockholders (importers) and wholesalers to register with the Director of Trade and must meet the requirements of capital, finance, local capital ratio, premises, and available storage Facility regulations. After the rice storage company is assigned the import quota, it needs to import rice according to the schedule. In total, all rice storekeepers must maintain a portion sufficient for 45 days for the then population of Hong Kong.
The regulation was incorporated into the "Reserved Commodities Regulations" in 1979. Except for rice, refrigerated meat and poultry were listed as reserve commodities. After the reunification, based on the government ’s desire to liberalize the food market and reduce control efforts, the stocks were gradually relaxed to 15 days starting in 1998. The practice continues to this day; the authorities also excluded refrigerated meat and poultry from the control scope in 2000 and The registration criteria for rice importers have been relaxed since 2003.
Therefore, although there is almost no local rice in Hong Kong and they are imported from Thailand, Vietnam, Mainland China, etc., under the law, rice merchants must store at least 15 days of food for all Hong Kong citizens; according to official statements, some customs Freight will not be affected after closure. So in theory, citizens need not worry about the shortage of rice grains for the time being.
Hong Kong currently has controls on rice storage. (Profile picture)
To include toilet paper in the regulations? Legally possible, but ...
Since rice can be stably supplied through regulations, can the same amount of toilet paper and other stocks be regulated through the Reserve Commodity Regulations to stabilize public confidence?
In terms of regulations, the Director-General of Trade and Industry has been empowered by the Ordinance to restrict the import, export and storage of designated goods, and has the final decision on the registration qualification of the stockholder. The list of reserved commodities is contained in the Annex to the Ordinance. The table is part of subsidiary legislation. Theoretically, the government can amend the contents of the schedule through the form of "establish first, then review", and add the goods that the government thinks need to be controlled to the list; as this is only a "very extraordinary measure" The government may also consider setting up sunset clauses, setting out the relevant control time limits, which will expire after the outbreak.
However, there may be some difficulties in implementation. For example, how to delimit the amount of reserves is a problem, because the government currently has official data on rice consumption, and understands the average annual consumption of rice by the citizens to calculate the amount of reserves. If you want to set a suitable storage target for other goods, you need to understand the sales and supply data with suppliers and retailers, and then determine the appropriate inventory as needed, which may take a long time. Far water cannot save near fire. Coupled with requiring merchants to store a specified quantity of goods for sale, it will undoubtedly reduce the flexibility of business. Rice is too important and understandable. It is a big question whether merchants are willing to implement similar controls on other daily necessities such as toilet paper.
Legislative Councillor Shao Jiahui pointed out that there is ample supply of daily necessities and urged the public not to snap up. (Profile picture)
Citizens must be rational
In fact, the government has repeatedly stated that the goods can still enter Hong Kong as usual after cessation of passenger customs clearance services, and the supply of daily necessities will not be affected. The total stock of rice is enough for the entire population of Hong Kong to eat for about a month. Legislative Councillor Shao Ka-fai, a member of the wholesale and retail sector, also quoted the industry as saying that there is sufficient stock of various daily necessities. Most people just buy daily necessities for hoarding, but there is actually no need. We hope that citizens will remain rational and distinguish between true and false information and their own needs.
Of course, the current government ’s prestige is insufficient, and the anti-epidemic measures introduced have been accused of being “slow.” Some citizens may know that certain information may not be credible, but they would rather have a roll of toilet paper in hand rather than trust the government. It's a political issue.
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